Shots
rang out on Tuesday and a man came out of his house to find his car
riddled with bullet holes. While the man was trying to figure out what
happened he saw Jackie Hightower come out of his house with a gun and started shooting again in the man's direction.
The
unnamed man ran in to his house to get his gun. When he came back out
he saw Hightower aim the gun at him and he demanded that Hightower stop
shooting. The man then fired a single shot at Hightower and Hightower
went back in his house.
Shreveport Police were called and were
able to get Hightower out of the house with few issues and he was placed
under arrest. Hightower is behind bars for these charges:
Monday night, March 3, around 10:00 p.m.,
the Laredo Police Department responded to a call about a stabbing at
the 3000 block of San Eduardo Ave.
When
officers arrived, they found out that several people were involved in a
fight, and shots had been fired. Police later identified one of the men
as Jorge Diaz Jr., 21, who had gunshot wounds but his injuries were not
life-threatening.
Police said the
investigation revealed that Diaz Jr. tried to slash the tires of a car
owned by Allias Alejandro Briones, 23. According to police, when Briones
confronted Diaz Jr., he showed a knife. Briones then pulled out a gun. A
third person stepped in between the two, but Diaz Jr. reached over and
stabbed Briones twice in the shoulder and chest.
Bob Ringstad never missed hunting deer in Wisconsin for 80 consecutive deer seasons, from 1945 to 2024.
This correspondent became friends with Bob Ringstad a few years ago. At 92 he is intellectually very sharp. His knowledge of history and North American archeology is impressive. His knowledge of hunting and firearms, accumulated over eight decades, is marvelous.
This correspondent has talked with Bob a number of times and interviewed him about his long hunting experience in the Wisconsin deer habitat of the North Woods.
Bob's father was a veteran of WWI and the first state forester in the North District of Wisconsin. At a point in his career, he shared an office at the ranger station in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, with the district game warden. The game warden confiscated many guns. Accountability was less formal in those days. The Warden's boss in Madison told him he did not want inexpensive guns to be shipped to the headquarters in Madison. He told the Warden: If the gun is worth less than $15, just break off the stock and throw the rest in the trash. $15 in 1945 would be worth $250 - $1,800 today, depending on the method of calculation.
If you are a thrifty person, this would be a difficult assignment. It might have been borderline illegal, as a waste of official resources. Guns tended to accumulate in the office. Bob's father asked the Warden what he was going to do with all the guns cluttering up the office they shared. Bob was with his father at the time. Bob was 12 years old.
The Warden said: How many do you want? You can have them all! Bob chimed in: I'll take them! His father said: No, no, and no! The Warden said a deal is a deal. The compromise was Bob took home a lever action model 94 Winchester in .30-30.
The year was 1945. Bob shot his first deer, a forkhorn buck, that deer season. His father beamed with pride.
A few years later, Bob wounded a buck in the morning and followed the blood trail for miles, nearly all day. As sundown approached, Bob came across a master hunter and woodsman, Louie Surley. Surley asked him: What are you doing, kid?
Bob replied: "Following a wounded buck."
Louie replied: You are late. The buck went through here about 3 p.m. Louie took him back to his camp and sent him home. He told Bob: Come back before 8 a.m. I will show you where the deer went, and we will get him.
It snowed 8 inches that night. Louie knew the swampy area the buck was headed for. With 8 inches of fresh snow, they never found the deer. Louie became Bob's deer hunting mentor, as he had with several young hunters in the area.
Bob married at 20. His wife, Joan, was 19. Bob was running raccoons at night on the weekends with a pack of dogs. They had rented a house in town. When the moon came up, the hounds would bark and howl. Bob was working in Minnesota. Joan got the complaints. Joan told Bob the dogs had to go. Bob said he would find a solution.
Bob mentioned the problem to a friend. The friend knew an older couple who were thinking about selling their farm and moving into town. After a 65 hour week's work in Minnesota, Bob knocked on the farmhouse door, about suppertime on a Friday night.
He purchased the 80 acres and farm, for $7000 in 1953. He borrowed the money from a credit union. He could have had another 40 wooded acres for $200. He decided to take a tractor instead. He lives in the farmhouse on the farm today.
Bob always took deer season off from work. He was a highly skilled large crane operator, in demand. In 1960, he was hired by the firm he was with for 20 years. When he was hired, the agreement was, with the owner, he would always take off deer season.
Several times, the owner's sons tried to push him to work during deer season. He always told them no. Once, he understood he was fired, so he applied for unemployment after deer season. The owner called him and said: What is going on? When Bob explained the situation, the owner told him: Get back in here, and get back to work!
The evening before the start of the 2024 Wisconsin deer season, Bob was considering which rifle to use. His son suggested Bob use Bob's left handed Savage model 110 chambered in .243. Bob had used the rifle effectively for many years. Bob looked and looked for ammunition. He found ammunition for other rifles but not the .243. Bob went to his reloading set-up and reloaded five rounds of .243, using one of his favorite recipes for the rifle. He finished before midnight. In the morning, from a stand on his farm, he shot a buck between 300 and 325 yards away. It took one shot. This correspondent told him he has enough ammunition for another four deer seasons.
Bob estimates he shot 40-50 deer during his 80 Wisconsin deer seasons, all of them bucks. He says he could have shot many more deer, but limited himself to bucks with noticeable antlers.
Bob is a marvelous friend with a keen intellect. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of many subjects. He lives alone in his house, but actively mentors some of the neighbor children. He is an active supporter of the Second Amendment. He is often on the Internet, running a Linux system computer set-up, or talking to people on other continents with his HAM radio. He could easily shoot four more bucks in another four deer seasons, with the ever reliable and accurate Savage 110 chambered in .243.
The sheriff's office said preliminary investigation revealed that the
verbal altercation between the two men led to the security guard firing
at the employee, who was struck.
The sheriff's office said the security guard remained at the scene and was cooperative with deputies.
There have been no arrests or charges filed in the case and it is still under investigation.
According to the startribune.com, about five months ago, the Minnesota House-Senate conference committee inserted a ban on eating beaver into the 2024 omnibus environment and natural resources bill. The ban only applies to nuisance beavers which are taken because they are doing damage. Beaver which are taken as part of the normal trapping season may legally be consumed by humans.
Landowners who have beavers which are doing damage to their property do not need a permit to take beavers to stop the damage. From dnr.state.min.us:
You can take some animals which are normally protected by Minnesota Statute without a license or permit if they are doing damage. If you are the landowner, manager or occupant of the property where the animal is causing damage, you can take the following animals.
The list includes beavers. State Senator Grant Hauschild has introduced a bill to rectify the beaver eating ban, which has become the subject of considerable humor and jokes across the country. From kstp.com:
A bill introduced by DFL State Senator Grant Hauschild aims to answer at least one of those questions by once again allowing Minnesotans to eat any nuisance beavers they killed.
Here is the proposed legislation. The only change noticed by this correspondent is the proposed removal of the prohibition on human consumption of beaver at the end of the bill.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 97B.667, subdivision 3, is amended to read: Subd. 3. Permits and notice; requirements. (a) Before killing or arranging to kill a beaver under this section, the road authority or government unit must contact a conservation officer for a special beaver permit if the beaver will be killed within two weeks before or after the trapping season for beaver, and the conservation officer must issue the permit for any beaver subject to this section. A permit is not required:
(1) for a licensed trapper during the open trapping season for beaver; or
(2) when the trapping season for beaver is closed and it is not within two weeks before or after the trapping season for beaver.
(b) A road authority or government unit that kills or arranges to have killed a beaver under this section must notify a conservation officer or employee of the Fish and Wildlife Division within ten days after the animal is killed.
(c) Unless otherwise directed by a conservation officer, the road authority, local government unit, the landowner, or their agent may dispose of or retain beaver killed under this section. Human consumption of a retained beaver is prohibited.
In the change proposed for 2025, the prohibition on eating beaver (bold lettering) would be removed.
Analysis:
This is another situation where language was slipped into a large bill without a good explanation. It doesn't seem any single person is willing to take responsibility for placing the offending language in the omnibus bill. A similar case occurred in Wisconsin in 1999. An administrative change was put into the law, which made it illegal to possess a firearm on or near the waters of the state. It took 25 years for the absurd provision to be noted and removed from the Wisconsin administrative code.
Around 2 a.m., officers responded to ‘Flirt’ on the 4800 block of
Wilkinson Blvd about an assault with a deadly weapon. When they arrived,
they found a man with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital
where he died of his injuries.
Police say the victim got into an altercation with armed security when
he was shot. According to the report, the shooting was justified.
250 lb black bear where it was shot. Chad came around the corner nearest the bear's head.
On May 20, 2022, Chad and Lacey Liske were getting ready for bed in their home near Medford, Wisconsin. Part of their routine was to take down their bird feeder, to prevent damage by bears. Their home was invaded and they were attacked by a 250 lb black bear. The incident was initially reported about on AmmoLand on May 23, 2022. The Liske's contacted AmmoLand with a detailed account this year. Their account is consistent with the AmmoLand report, but includes many interesting details not available at the time. The Liskes had three children at home during the fight. Their account, with a few editorial inclusions for clarity, including pictures from the Liskes, is presented below:
From Chad and Lacey Liske:
On Friday, May 20, 2022 at about 11:00 PM my wife and I were finishing watching a TV show and about to begin our routine before bed. That routine consisted of taking our two dogs out for one last potty break and bringing in the bird feeder for the night. The bird feeder is located about 14 feet away from our living room window. About two weeks prior to this incident our bird feeder was taken down by a bear sometime during the night. Because of that visit, we had been bringing the bird feeder in nightly.
This night was slightly different as we usually go to bed at about 10:00 – 10:30 PM but it was Friday and we were up a little later. After I turned the TV off and was just about to get up off the couch, I heard some metal clanking sounds that I believed to be the bird feeder. I looked out the front window but could not see anything. I went to the front door and turned on the outside light and opened the door to peek out toward the bird feeder location. At first, I could not see anything but then I saw the red colored feeder moving around. I assumed there was a bear at the feeder. I closed the door and started walking towards the living room where my wife said she saw the bear. She said, "I can scare it." She walked to the living window and slid the lower portion of the double hung window all the way up. She yelled at the bear to startle it away. At the same time, I was walking into the living room, I looked towards the front window, as I got closer, and as my wife yelled, I saw a flash of black run off towards the woods. Turns out the bear that ran off was a juvenile bear. The next thing I saw as I was standing next to the window near my wife was a bear head burst through the screen on the window. The window is four feet off the ground and about 24” x 30” at the open portion of the window. The bear did not stop at just poking its head through but instantly crawled its way into the living room. My wife had stepped back and I was instantly confronted by the bear. My wife had cleared away and I was in a fight with the bear as it stood up on its hind legs. I recall the bear being about the same height as, me as we were face to face during the battle. My wife was shouting out, “what do we do?” and I yelled out, “get a gun!"
Window where bear busted the screen to break into house.
Right away my mind jumped to protecting my wife and kids at all costs. I made the decision to grab the lower jaw of the bear’s open mouth with my right hand. I believed that if I could control the head, I could control the body of the bear. I recall the bear biting down on my right hand and I could hear a crunching sound. I continued wrestling with the bear in the living room area of our house.
My wife started to go and get a gun from the safe in our bedroom closet but stopped as she believed I had my concealed handgun on my hip and she needed to get it from me. She turned around and saw me on the floor with the bear on top of me and saw that I was in my blue colored pajamas already for the night, recognizing that my gun was not on my hip. My wife realized again she needed to head to the bedroom to get a gun and started heading that way. I do not recall how we fell to the floor or even how I got back up off the floor, but remembered thinking being on the ground for a fight was the worst place to be, especially when you are on the bottom. I recall being back up standing, struggling with the bear near our deck sliding door and my wife yelling out that she could not remember the code to get into the safe to get a gun. I yelled out the code to her over and over as I fought with the bear.
(The pistol was a Sig P320 X-Carry 9mm, loaded with Federal HST 147 grain cartridges, in a dedicated, small handgun safe, editor)
Chad's right hand was damaged in the fight with the bear.
My wife came to the realization that in the panic of the moment she could not remember the code and as she recalls, she only heard part of the code I was shouting. She knew she would not be able to get a gun so she made the decision to grab what she knows best, her knives. She ran to the kitchen and grabbed out two knives from the knife block on the counter. Without even thinking about which knives she grabbed, she ended up with the 8” Wusthof chef’s knife and the large Wusthof carving knife.
Knives Lacy used to combat the bear.
Then my wife grabbed her knives she headed toward the bear and me. The bear had its left side toward the kitchen and my wife as we were standing, still in a struggle. My wife came up to the side of the bear and hesitated, saying, "I'm afraid if I stab it, it will hurt you worse". I remember yelling to her, “just do it!” My wife raised the chef’s knife that was in her left hand and forcefully struck the bear in the left side of its body. She sunk the knife about 3 – 4” into the bear’s side and must have struck bone as the tip of the knife was bent.
My wife stabbing the bear caused the bear to release me and I instantly ran towards the bedroom closet to get my 9mm handgun from the safe. I panicked as I knew my wife was now alone in the room with an injured bear and I knew what I had just endured and I needed to get back in a hurry.
Right after my wife stabbed the bear, the bear turned and made a quick, reactive bite to her right forearm. Fortunately, the bear released right away and started moving around the outer perimeter of the dining room and kitchen as it worked its way toward the hallway that I had just ran down. My wife stood in the middle of the room with both knives still in hand, ready, and watching as the bear kept its distance from her.
As I ran back towards the last spot I knew the bear to be, the dining/kitchen area, I rounded the corner of the hall and was met instantly by the bear as it was heading my way. Using my left hand, I was able to point the gun at the bears head and fire one round as the bear was about 1– 2 feet from me. The bullet hit its mark and the bear instantly dropped to the floor, dead.
Chad had the Sig in his left hand, because of the wound in his right hand. He has always been able to shoot well with either hand. Chad started shooting at a young age, hunting alone at the age of 12, in northern Wisconsin. He had 20 years experience in law enforcement at the time of this incident. (editor)
My wife was able to collect herself and called 9-1-1 to report what had just happened and request an ambulance for our injuries as well as law enforcement. While her call connected with the 9-1-1 Dispatch, she could hear them, but they could not hear anything she had reported. I called 9-1-1 from my cell phone and reported a shortened version of what happened as I thought they had more information from my wife’s call. I also asked for law enforcement and an ambulance.
Chad in hospital.
We were transported by ambulance and received treatment from our local hospital and were released in the morning to return home.
We are grateful that our injuries are minor compared to what they could have been. My wife received a bite to her right forearm. I received bites to my right hand, right bicep, left forearm, left shoulder/back area and various scratches. I also received a minor laceration to the left side of my head at some point throughout the struggle.
We are also extremely grateful that 3 of our children were in bed sleeping at the time, while one was away for the night at a friend’s house. Our youngest child, whose bedroom was just down the hall from the gunshot, woke up and yelled for me after the incident. I went to her room and told her everything was alright and to go back to sleep, which she did. Our other two children that were home remained sleeping the entire time and did not awaken until family arrived to take them from the home for the night.
Even though we endured this terrifying incident, we feel that God was truly watching over our family and protecting us in many ways. We are so thankful for our family, friends, and coworkers who helped us with everything after the incident, for all the prayers from our community and for the EMS, hospital staff, Taylor County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources staff.
The bear was checked for rabies. It was not infected. The bullet fired by Chad appears to have gone through the brainstem and out the head into the neck, via the spinal column. The head was removed to check for rabies. The body was sent to a taxidermist. When queried, neither was able to find the bullet. It may have fallen out of the neck after the head was separated from the body.
The Liskes fared better than Patrice Miller. Miller was killed in her California home by an invading black bear. Miller did not have a gun, even though the bear had attempted to break in many times previously.
In an altercation that occurred on Six Foot Road on Saturday, Donald
Nicholas Hughes, known as Nick, and Cassie King were arrested after a
heated confrontation that involved ramming vehicles and gunfire.
According to Moses, it was reported that the couple was involved in a
significant disturbance where King is said to have rammed Hughes’ truck
while he was inside.
The situation further intensified when Hughes reportedly pulled a
firearm and fired multiple shots at King’s truck as she attempted to
leave, with a passenger also present in the vehicle, Moses said.
Police officers applied two tourniquets to the
victim's leg after he was found lying in the middle of the street in the
400 block of McGregor SW. A handgun was found next to him.
They were notified at 11:09 p.m. about the shooting, which reportedly occurred nearby in the 400 block of Collins Court NW.
Another man told police he fired at the victim after gunfire toward his sister.
On January 4, 2025, President Joe Biden signed H.R. 6492, also known as the Explore Act. The Act contains H.R. 1614, the previous Range Access Act. The act, as passed, requires bureaucrats in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Forest Service (USFS) to consider the establishment of a target shooting range in each National Forest district or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) district. This is not a difficult requirement. In Arizona, there are only four BLM districts. Each district is much larger than some of the smaller eastern states. BLM recently constructed three shooting ranges north of Phoenix, Arizona.
The experience of long term desert shooters with the building of three ranges on BLM land north of Phoenix is a cautionary tale. A significant amount of money was spent to build well designed ranges which have minimal utility. The only shooting allowed at the ranges is shooting at steel targets at fixed distances, mostly at long ranges. No shooters are allowed to go down range. The only targets which may be used are the steel targets provided, at the fixed ranges provided. The steel targets are painted once a week. This does not appear to be the original plan put forward by stakeholders when they met with BLM planners, prior to the construction of the ranges.
Here is a slide show/video supplied by Tony Urso showing what uses experienced desert shooters expect of a range open to the public. The show is about 11 minutes long. It is very well done.
The use of steel targets in fixed positions, along with the prohibition against shooters from going down range in front of the firing line at any time prevents many normal and expected uses of public ranges. Chronographs are generally not usable, because most need to be placed ahead of the firing line. Shooting at close targets, under 25 yards is not possible. Shooting to test ammunition/firearms for accuracy is extremely limited, because a shooter cannot determine where they hit the target with precision. Shooting to sight in a rifle or pistol is virtually impossible for the same reason.
Steel targets were chosen as a method to prevent people from going downrange. From the blm.gov/blog:
Because the sites are operated as self-service shooting facilities, they
need special management to ensure public and staff safety. Each of the
sites has steel targets installed to prevent visitors from going
downrange to place their own targets.
Shooters are not allowed to paint the provided steel targets.
Here is a video presentation from the Bureau of Land Management showing how the targets are made. It show a glimpse of the BLM ranges north of Phoenix.
Tony Urso noted that when these ranges were opened, about 4000 acres of land which was suitable for recreational shooting, adjacent to the now official ranges, were closed to the public as a "safety measure". Local managers have the authority to regulate adjacent lands for reasons of safety.
The BLM blog states an estimated 71,000 visits were made in 2023 to the 4 BLM constructed ranges near Phoenix. There are three ranges to the north of Phoenix, west of Lake Pleasant, in a rough north-south line about four miles long. The three sites are:
Baldy Mountain Recreational Shooting Site
Church Camp Road Recreational Shooting Site
Saddleback Mountain Recreational Shooting Site
The Box Canyon Recreational Shooting Site is in Pinal County, southwest of the City of Maricopa. Reports from users of the Box Canyon site would be welcome.
Sites are available six days a week, or about 312 days a year. The average estimated usage would be 71,000 divided by 4 X 312, or approximately 57 people per site per day. Some sites will be more popular than others. Weekends are probably more crowded than weekdays.
The lack of suitable facilities for pistol shooters is obvious. Pistols are designed for close range use. Steel targets should not be shot at from close range because of the danger of back-splatter, bounce-back, and ricochet. Pistols are the most popular firearm being purchased by the public.
All four sites ban shooters from going down range or from bringing their own targets. Those are site specific rules which were not published in the federal register. The mandatory use of steel targets is a local rule which can be changed. It is a local prohibition arising from an over-abundance of caution, which precludes most traditional uses of ranges. These are the only public ranges this correspondent is aware of, which limit use to steel targets only, to prevent shooters from going downrange.
Analysis: The limitation to use only steel targets is an overreaction to potential dangers. The enabling legislation foresaw shooters would bring, set up and remove their own targets. From the BLM site, rule 6:
You must only use authorized stationary targets as specified in the
operating plan for each site. These targets may be made of cardboard,
paper, self-healing, steel, and biodegradable clay (clay targets). All
other items, such as aluminum cans, glass bottles, bowling pins, plastic
bottles and other items which may leave debris, are not authorized to
be used as targets. Exploding targets are prohibited. All user-supplied
steel targets must be specifically designed for use with firearms and
must be used at a distance of 100 yards or greater. Target frames must
be designed to be reusable. The use of wooden pallets and other items
not specifically designed as target frames are not authorized. All
user-supplied targets, target frames, and debris must be removed from
the site and disposed of properly after use and before leaving the site.
This correspondent's experience as a bureaucrat leads to the question: was the decision to limit targets to provided steel targets primarily for the protection of the BLM decision makers? The idea seems to be: if you prohibit people from going down range, the liability of the decision makers will be minimized. This is a pernicious idea, which greatly diminishes the utility of the ranges. Thousands of people have been shooting on BLM land for decades. Accidents and injuries are minimal.
The idea of prohibiting people from going downrange to set up and remove targets is not a good innovation. The public BLM ranges should allow for users to go downrange and to use their own targets, especially for pistol shooting. Shooters at public ranges normally self-regulate this conduct. Volunteers at public ranges could do the same.
As a shooter, this correspondent would have preferred less money spent on the installation of expensive chain link fencing on rough terrain. The money could have been used to provide for shade structures on the line. Shade, in Arizona summers, has high utility.
H.R. 1614, Range Access Act
H.R. 1614 would require the BLM and USFS, after determining if allowable
under law and management plan, to establish and manage a developed
shooting range in each district managed by the agencies that does not
already have a range, within five years of enactment and subject to
available appropriations. The bill allows the agencies to enter into an
agreement with another entity to establish and maintain the shooting
range. The two agencies are also required to coordinate with several
groups on the construction of the ranges, including Tribes, State and
local agencies, and shooting clubs, and to consult with these groups on
ways to maximize private funding for the construction. Additionally,
under the bill, both BLM and the USFS are to cooperate with these
stakeholders and partners to ensure that any shooting range constructed
under the bill will not impact any nearby non-Federal shooting ranges.
The bill further requires the agencies seek to ensure that there is a
designated shooting range meeting the requirements of the bill or
located adjacent to BLM- or Forest Service-managed lands and available
for public use prior to closing an area to recreational shooting, except
in emergency situations. The bill also specifies that agencies may not
require a user to pay a fee to use the shooting ranges. Finally, H.R.
1614 requires submission of an annual report to Congress on progress
toward meeting the requirements of the law.
Analysis
While the BLM recognizes the sponsors’ interest in increasing access to
designated shooting ranges and the need to do so in some places to
ensure public safety and minimize user conflicts, the BLM cannot support
the bill at this time due to the significant challenges in developing
and maintaining the proposed number of shooting ranges, which would also
involve removal of lead ammunition, clean-up of hazardous materials,
and berm management. The BLM notes in some locations, exercising BLM’s
authority to charge a user fee may be warranted for the purposes in the
bill, given the large number of designated shooting ranges envisioned.
In addition, the bill does not acknowledge the importance of public
input and assessing community interest in development of designated
shooting ranges in its districts.
Important loophole:
From HR 6492:
(c) Restrictions
(1) Management
The
management of a target shooting range shall be subject to such
conditions as the Secretary concerned determines are necessary for the
safe, responsible use of—
(A) the target shooting range; and(B) the adjacent land and resources.
When officers arrived, they located a 41-year-old Hispanic male in
the front yard with obvious gunshot wounds. He was transported to a
local hospital by medics. Last update on the male was
non-life-threatening injuries.
Police were told by the homeowner that he located a male in the back
yard and the male went to the front yard. The homeowner gave commands to
the trespasser. During the confrontation the homeowner fired several
times at the trespasser fearing for his own safety.
“The dog was barking. One of the alarms sounded. I checked the
cameras. I saw him downstairs on the property. I got my gun, I gave my
wife one of our guns,” he said.
In a bathrobe with a flashlight and handgun, Yesharim faced the home invading burglar.
“The only thing that was going through my mind at the time was to protect myself and my family at all costs,” he said.
The security footage captured the pistol-toting homeowner as he greeted the intruder.
“I
saw him in my courtyard by my front door. I pulled my gun on him, I
told him, ‘Freeze. I’ve got a gun. I will shoot you,'” said Yesharim.
“He looked at me and he started running away from me. And it looked like
he went toward my neighbor’s house and hopped the wall there.”
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WSMV) - New details are emerging about the stabbing in Brentwood that left a man dead earlier this week.
WSMV4
has learned that the suspect, 26-year-old Julian Porter, allegedly
stabbed his mother repeatedly before a neighbor intervened.
Witnesses say he was warned multiple times to drop the weapon by the neighbor, after refusing, that’s when shots were fired.
“When I saw her on the floor, being so
beaten, I felt so bad for a woman that seemed so sad, and I was really
sad for the other man because he really tried to help,” witness Lucile
Haller recalled.
Despite the woman being injured, she is expected to recover. However, Porter succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.
On January 30, 2025, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. stated a new policy of restoring Second Amendment rights should be attempted in the United States Virgin Islands. If it happens, it will be an extraordinary reversal in policy. The United States Virgin Islands have the most restrictive firearms laws in the United States. They are more restrictive than Hawaii or the District of Columbia. From the viconsortium.com:
“I think the Virgin Islands gun policy has totally failed,” said Governor Albert Bryan Jr., speaking during Wednesday's exclusive interview with the Consortium.
He was responding to a question about how the territory could possibly stem the influx of unlicensed, unregistered firearms into the territory.
“What happens is – when you tell somebody no, the temptation is more,” Governor Bryan argued, referring to the territory's strict gun ownership regulations. “The states with the toughest gun laws get the highest homicide rates,” he declared.
“I think we should move to a place where we open gun ranges that are legal and we make it easier for people to license and carry firearms,” Governor Bryan stated. He argued that the percentage of Virgin Islanders who carry unregistered weapons for reasons of ill-intent is very small, while the majority of residents carry firearms because “they're trying to protect themselves, or feel protected.”
The US Virgin Islands are in competition for the highest murder rate in the world. In the last 24 years it has varied from 16 to 56 per 100k population. At times the District of Columbia has had a higher rate. From 1989 to 1993 the DC murder rate never dropped below 70 per 100k population. The peak came in 1991 at 80.6. In 1999 the U.S. V.I. rate was about 16. The rate in DC was 46. Meanwhile, Hawaii, another Island U.S. jurisdiction, has low homicide rates in spite of highly restrictive firearms laws.
Governor Albert Bryan, Jr. is correct when he says the U.S. V.I. firearms laws have failed. The stated purpose of the law is to reduce violent crime, especially homicide. Governor Bryan says a new approach is needed for the U.S. V.I. The Supreme Court of the United States agrees with him. So does the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
The United States Virgin Islands federal court is the United States District Court of the Virgin Islands. The District Court is in the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Third Circuit has held the Second Amendment applies to 18-20 year old people in the United States. This decision strongly upheld the Supreme Court in the Bruen decision, which ruled rights protected by the Second Amendment include the right to bear arms outside the home in case of confrontation.
Analysis: The U.S. Virgin Islands is ripe for a federal challenge to their extreme restrictions on gun ownership and carry. They do not have a clear method to obtain a permit to either apply to purchase a firearm or to carry a firearm. The U.S. V.I. are supposed to have some reciprocity with some states for carry of a firearm by non-residents, but do not have any states listed as recognized. This correspondent will not be surprised if a lawsuit is filed against the U.S. V.I. government for deprivation of civil rights under color of law on any one of these issues.
Police say Bain pulled onto Taylor Blvd.
near Beecher Street and in front of a van carrying a man and three kids.
That van was equipped with front and rear cameras which showed
everything that happened next.
Investigators
say Bain’s vehicle first break-checked the van causing the driver to go
around. After that Bain allegedly began chasing after the van,
continually trying to cut the van off. While on Taylor Blvd., Bain’s
vehicle rammed into the van during this chase which ended on Carlisle
Avenue when the van’s tires were flattened, disabling it.
The
video shows Bain then allegedly rammed the disabled van with the man
and three kids inside nearly flipping it over. The van’s driver had a
gun and shot Bain once in the stomach.
With the help of the van’s dashcam video, police were able to charge Bain.
Officers then learned of a domestic violence call
that occurred earlier on the 3100 block of Blackmon Court, the female
victim's residence.
Armed with a gun,
investigators say, Price tried to force his way into the woman's bedroom
in which she locked herself. Finding her own gun, she fired through the
closed door and hit Price in the upper arm before he fled.
Price
has been charged with kidnapping; false imprisonment; terroristic
threats and acts; possession of a firearm during the commission of a
crime; and, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Once the robber pointed the gun at her, she fired at the robber. The
suspect fell to the floor while the barista ran out the back door
unharmed.
The suspect, who was also not hurt, escaped to a waiting car, which
was reported as stolen from Richland earlier in the day. The Pasco
Police Department was already searching for the teen suspect, as he was
allegedly involved in another robbery.
He was found and arrested, and now faces charges of first-degree
robbery, assault and illegal possession of a firearm. His name has not
been released.
The suspect is being held at a local juvenile center.
The National Instant background Check System (NICS) firearm sales for January of 2025 are nearly the same as for January of 2024. The total firearm sales are less than one percent different from January of last year, as calculated by this correspondent. Last January recorded about 1.15 million firearm sales. January of 2025 showed about 1.16 million firearm sales. This is an increase of about .8%. Given the inherent inaccuracies within the data collection systems, the numbers are too close to claim a significant difference. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) numbers for adjusted firearm sales in January of 2025 show a .9% increase in sales from January of 2024.
There are differences between the calculations done by this correspondent and the calculations used by NSSF. From NSSF:
The adjusted NICS datawere derived by subtracting out NICS purpose code permit checks and permit rechecks used by states for CCW permit application checks as well as checks on active CCW permit databases. NSSF started subtracting permit rechecks in February 2016.
This correspondent adds the firearm sales figures for handguns, long guns, other, and 2.5X the number of multiple firearm sales recorded to reach an approximation of gun sales which were performed through the NICS system. This correspondent's calculations are an approximation of total firearm sales performed through NICS.
The NSSF adjusted firearm sales are arrived at by subtracting background checks done for things other than firearm sales. NSSF numbers tend to be slightly higher than the calculations done by this correspondent. Some background checks are done to retrieve gun sales from pawn shops. Those are included in the NSSF numbers, but not in this correspondent's calculations.
The NICS numbers for firearm sales have built in uncertainties in determining total firearm sales. 24 states allow for some people with permits to purchase firearms without a NICS check. Multiple firearms can be purchased with a single NICS check. Private sales are not required to obtain government permission before a sale is done in most states. Because the NSSF and this correspondent's methods are both based on the numbers reported by the FBI NICS system, they are very close to each other.
Here are the numbers of the four types of firearms used by this correspondent to approximate total firearm sales for January of 2025. Bars show values for January of 2025. The lines show values for all of 2024.
You can see the numbers for January of 2024 and January of 2025 are extremely close for all four types of firearm sales.
The NSSF chart of adjusted NICS numbers for firearms sales of 26 years of the month of January shows a correlation with presidential elections. When Barack Obama or his vice president, Joseph Biden were elected, firearm sales soared in January of 2009, 2013, and 2021. When President Trump was elected, firearm sales in January of 2017 and 2025 stayed close to the number of firearm sales in the January of the year before the election .
The "firearm salesman of the year" moniker applied to President Barack Obama has been surpassed by his former vice president, President Joe Biden. Many consider the Biden Presidency to be the "third term" of President Barack Obama.
Analysis:
The United States of America and the world are in for major corrections. The insane spending set off by the obliteration of budget controls in "continuing resolutions", put in place during the Obama years, is coming to an end.
Government spending must be brought under control or the nation will be bankrupted. President Trump and his team have been saddled by enormous, unsustainable debt put in place by the corruption of decades of deficit spending. Increasing productivity can lessen the difficulties by "growing" out of the problem. Much can be accomplished by a combination of allowing the private sector to innovate and economize through deregulation. The second potential is to fuel the economy by decreasing energy costs.
Government spending can always exceed production, because government spending can always be increased by printing/creating money by government fiat. Government spending must be cut to allow production to bring about a balance between deflation and inflation. Government spending cuts will be painful for some. Given the uncertainties involved, this correspondent believes firearm sales will remain similar to what they were in 2024.
On
February 24, 2025, at approximately 11:20 p.m., deputies from the
Montgomery County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a shooting
at a residence in the 15000 block of Knotty Oaks in Magnolia. Upon their
arrival, deputies discovered that a male had been shot multiple times
by the homeowner.
Investigations
revealed that an unknown male had appeared at the residence and refused
to leave. Feeling threatened, the homeowner contacted her father and a
neighbor for help. The neighbor, an off-duty officer with the Houston
Police Department, along with the homeowner’s father, a retired HPD
officer, ultimately shot the suspect due to the ongoing threats.
Deputies
and the homeowners provided life-saving measures, and the suspect was
subsequently transported to a local hospital, where he is currently
receiving treatment.
Detectives
from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Homicide and Violent Crimes
Unit, along with Crime Scene Investigators, the Montgomery County
District Attorney’s Office, and representatives from the Houston Police
Department responded to the scene and are conducting an investigation.
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” -- Thomas Jefferson
Syndicated columnist Charley Reese (1937-2013): "Gun control by definition affects only honest people. When a politician tells you he wants to forbid you from owning a firearm or force you to get a license, he is telling you he doesn’t trust you. That’s an insult. ... Gun control is not about guns or crime. It is about an elite that fears and despises the common people."
The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles -- Jeff Cooper (1920-2006)
Note for non-American readers: Crime reports from America which describe an offender just as a "teen" or "teenager" almost invariably mean a BLACK teenager.
We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean
It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.
The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
How much do you know about Trayvon Martin? It's all here (Backups here and here)
“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” -- Robert A. Heinlein
After all the serious stuff here, maybe we need a funny picture of a cantankerous cat
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